In the Middle Ages if your son was into buggery of men you sent him in to the Catholic church. If your daughter was a nut job you sent her to a convent. It is strange to me that these historical facts have not been addressed by the Catholic church. Why the gay drug fueled orgies by Vatican officials? Is Francis the Anti Christ? WTH is wrong with Catholicism? Martin Luther had it right. Consider this a treatise on a church door. Look at what you are and who you are following. To me it seems like lemmings down a cliff. Oust the bastard. Reclaim what you had after Luther spanked your arses.
1. There is NO mediator between God and man except Christ. 1 Tim 2:5. It’s heresy to say a church or any man (Pope) is a mediator as Christ’s role is exclusive.
No church, denomination, Saint, other dead person, etc. is a mediator to God, nor should they be prayed to as such.
2. The Rock which Christ built his church upon is the revelation that he (Jesus) is the Christ. Peter was a man who shortly after that revelation denied Christ three times in public. He was later restored after the resurrection of Jesus, went on to serve the Lord, and be martyred for the cause. The Truth of who Jesus is is the foundation of the church. Had Peter walked away and never returned to the faith the revelation would still be true.
3. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 2 Cor 5:8. There is no purgatory.
4. Mary was blessed to be chosen by God to be the mother of our Lord. But she was a sinner in need of a Savior as every other human being aside from Jesus (the ONLY Lamb of God). She was not perfect. She is not a mediator to God or to her Son. She went on to have other children (James is specially mentioned in the Bible as Jesus’ half brother.)
All kinds of heresies in the Catholic church. Above are some big ones.
The problem was that even with Luther and the Reformation, there was this little problem called anti-semitism that plague the Protestant church.